It is often quite easy to get caught up in the technology of the day, and forget to take the time and explain some of the great digital marketing outlets out there. At adHOME we work with many digital marketing outlets, from Google to Bing, and Facebook to LinkedIn, and our experiences range from small one off campaigns to large international efforts. Here’s a breakdown of some of the different marketing vehicles typically used in a digital marketing campaign.
SEM
The “big kahuna” of marketing, Google AdWords encompasses many possible Search Engine Marketing outlets including, search, display and YouTube advertising.
Starting with search, you can have your text ads appear when someone searches for a pre-defined set of search terms. For example, Googling a term such as “Shoes” results in a few paid text ads at the top and bottom of the results page:
SEM text ads can be target based on your search terms and any keywords that may be included in your query. For example, when building a SEM campaign, keyword research allows us to evaluate the demographic and popularity of searches that relate to your products or services. This establishes an ad group of keywords where your text ads will appear when searched.
Google Display Ads are focused on general interests of your target audience. For example, if your product was related to interior decorating, with proper targeting, your display ad would appear on sites like HGTV.ca as banner ads throughout the site.
Display Remarketing is a variation of display advertising, that focuses on showing relevant ads back to the user once they have visited your site and continue to surf the web. They can have specific message, or a call to action inviting them back to fill out a form, or purchase a product.
YouTube advertising is also completed through Google AdWords, and there are two main types of advertising.
TrueView In-Stream Ads play before a video clip and can be skipped after a few seconds. Advertisers only pay for these views when someone watches the first 30 seconds of the ad, any clicks on the ad (and cards), or a view to the end of the video (if shorter than 30s). This has resulted in some pretty creative ads to maximize on the YouTube ad structure.
The second type of YouTube ads are In-Display ads that appear in searches, or as a recommended video based on your search. These have to be a bit more targeted and relevant, although as an advertiser, you will only pay once your video is viewed.
Social Media
When it comes to social, there are many benefits to each platform and their marketing.
Facebook is typically used to reach users and can be targeted by demographics, geographic and interests. An advertising campaign on Facebook is set up with a target market in mind, and Facebook delivers ads (whether a clicks to website ad, engagement post, website leads, video ads etc.) based on the ad goals. Facebook can be good for building B2C interactions.
As Instagram and Facebook now operate on the same ads platform, they share a lot of the same targeting and advertising options. Instagram is typically used to advertise similar elements as Facebook, however, as this platform grows, we will see an increase of photo-realistic ads being more prominently favoured based on the users already engaged on the platform. B2C engagement will be more important than clicks here.
Twitter advertising offers a lot of the same type of targeting features as Facebook, however, offers a bit more flexibility in the platform. Ads can be targeted to people who follow certain accounts or hashtags, and the list is endless. Twitter ads appear in-stream, as if the post has just happened. For this reason, Twitter ads have great popularity among B2B- and B2C-focused companies.
Lastly, LinkedIn marketing uses a lot of the same type of targeting, however, can also more effectively target professionals based on their job titles, companies and job industry. This type of marketing is typically content-based, and has a more professional focus. LinkedIn advertising is great for B2B influence.
Next up: Why is Search Engine Optimization so important? How can I improve it?
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